Don't Take Life Too Seriously...

... because no one gets out alive anyway.

I was having lunch this week with a fund manager and a partner at an accounting firm and one of them looked at me and smiled "You must be the most relaxed guy I know. Through all the times that I have met with you, I have never seen you stressed". 

I laughed. "Just to give you an idea of my week, summers are typically very slow for the companies that I am involved with so we have to keep a tight reign on our expenses and work hard for sales - thats stressful; we are working on financing some projects, thats always stressful; and I just finished having heated discussions with one of our management groups over the budget that they presented; thats also stressful. And thats only the tip of the iceberg. I am moving so my clothes are getting boxed up and a lot of my free time is spent packing".

I have to admit that I love the view from my office...I look out the window and what I see is a world of possibility! BTW. Thats a cruise ship parked in front of my window.

"So how come you are always smiling and seem present in the moment?" one of them asked. 

Its largely because as much as I love the game of business, it is, in the end, a game for me. I choose to look at it that way. A game I choose to play. A game I pour my heart and soul into, but it is a game nonetheless. The same goes with many aspects of my life, except for family and relationships. That I carry 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

I said, "the key for me is don't take life too seriously... because no one gets out alive anyway!".

As I look at my role as CEO,  I have a strategic role - where and how to lead the business into the future; and a day to day role - which I typically describe as dealing with difficult situations (because by the time it gets to me,  it is highly likely that the other management team members have been unable to deal with it). 

Not unlike my favorite line from the movie BAND OF BROTHERS - during World War II, when the German army had surrounded the allied forces in the Ardennes, soldiers from the US 101st airbourne were parachuted into the forest. At one point in the movie, a tired, battle worn soldier approached the Captain of the 101st, "I just want you to know that you will be surrounded with no way to escape"; the captain then replied, "We are paratroopers. We are supposed to be surrounded". I laughed because it was quite the analogy.

I am a CEO - I am supposed to deal with difficult decisions. That's my job.  As long as I keep that perspective,  the stresses and challenges all just become part of the day's work.  


As I tell the teams that I work with, my job is not to help them do their job, my job is to catch them when they stumble.